The Manchester Monarchs could not extend their point streak to 10 games as goaltender Jason Missiaen recorded a shutout en route to a 3-0 Connecticut Whale victory at the XL Center on Saturday night.

Manchester (29-25-3-4) is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 65 points. Connecticut (29-25-5-3) is in second place in the Northeast Division with 63 points.

“We weren’t ready to pay tonight,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “That falls on my shoulder. Obviously, you need to get these guys to e more focused and ready to battle. It’s important we understand that there needs to be greater sense of urgency and desperation this late in the season. Taking shifts off and lack of focus was evident from players logging big minutes. If you work hard, more times than not you get rewarded. It’s no secret. Connecticut was more determined to fight for loose pucks early on. When we finally decided to play, we had great energy and scoring chances. That’s what we want in terms of compete level.”

The Whale opened up the scoring with a shorthanded goal by left Chris Kreider at 5:22 of the first period. Center Kris Newbury fed Kreider in the neutral zone on the left wing with speed. Kreider skated in behind the defense and flipped a backhand past the outstretched left leg pad of Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones for the eventual game-winning goal. Missiaen also tallied an assist on Kreider’s 10th goal of the season.

Left wing Brandon Mashinter gave the Whale a 2-0 lead with a power play goal at 15:08 of the second period. Defenseman Logan Pyett fed left wing Andrew Yogan on the left wing where he gained the Monarchs zone. Yogan played the puck up to Mashinter in the top of the left wing face-off circle. Mashinter skated in and flipped a backhand high over the shoulder of Jones’ glove side for his 10th goal of the season.

The Whale took a 3-0 with a goal by center Andrew Carroll at 17:41 of the second period. Center Kyle Jean grabbed a loose puck in the left wing corner in the Monarchs zone. Jean passed out to defenseman Mike Vernace at the left wing half wall. Vernace found Carroll in between the face-off circle where he took a wrist shot. Vernace’s shot was blocked but he regained control before backhanding a shot that found the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

Jones (19-20-4) took his 20th loss of the season making 21 saves on 24 shots. Missiaen (8-4-2) earned his eighth victory of the season stopping all 27 shots he faced.

Manchester went 0-for-7 on the power play. Connecticut went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

Notables: The Monarchs had their nine-game point streak (7-0-1-1) snapped in the loss…The Monarchs have been shutout four times this season…Center Linden Vey had his three game assist and point streak (0-6=6) snapped in the loss.

The Monarchs stay on the road as they travel to play the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Sunday, March 17 at 3:05 p.m. Catch all the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the MonarchsRadio Network WGIR 610 AM, WGIR.com and at www.manchestermonarchs.com, presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.